The present invention relates to gas turbine engines. In particular, the invention relates to containment systems for gas turbine engines.
Gas turbine engines employ two relatively large components that rotate at very high speeds. These are a compressor impeller and a turbine wheel. The compressor impeller compresses incoming air which is directed to a combustion chamber, mixed with fuel and ignited. The turbine wheel is propelled by rapidly expanding gases resulting from the combustion of the fuel and the compressed incoming air. The compressor impeller is linked to, and powered by, the turbine wheel. Mechanical failure of either of these two components can result in considerable damage to the gas turbine engine. In some cases, pieces of the failed component may contain enough kinetic energy to penetrate a gas turbine engine housing and cause considerable damage outside the gas turbine engine. Therefore, it is frequently a requirement that the compressor impeller and the turbine wheel each have a containment device or system to prevent such flying fragments from escaping the engine.
Typically, a compressor impeller or turbine wheel containment system is a metal band or a series of metal bands surrounding either the compressor impeller section or the turbine wheel section of the engine. Such containment systems add weight, which reduces efficiency for gas turbine engines in transportation applications in general and is particularly problematic for applications aboard aircraft.